So last year when we got the beats solo pro, I thought the best studio pro were right around the corner. But its been a little over a year now and we’ve got the AirPods Max but still no Beats Studio Pro. Now even though the AirPods max really do deliver when it comes to sound and active noise cancelation… I still think the Beats Studio pro might be coming.
Now one of the main reasons why it think that we’ll still see the beats Studio pro is just pricing. The Beats Solo pro retail for $300… where as the AirPods Max retail for $550. Now say what you will about Apple’s pricing here… there’s a very large price gap between the Solo Pro’s and the AirPods Max.
Now the Beats Studio 3’s retail for $350. Now ideally I would like to think that the Beats Studio pro would also retail for $350… But given apple’s courage I wouldn’t be surprised if the Beats Studio Pro retailed for $400. But nonetheless I do think apple would like to have a product that sandwiched between the Beats Solo pro and AirPods Max.
Now what do I think that we could expect to see from the Beats Studio Pro’s? Well for starters I would expect the Studio Pro’s to follow the Solo pro’s design langue. Now even though the Solo Pro’s aren’t the best built headphones… objectively they do have better build quality than the previous Beats Solo 3’s and I do think that they’re better built than the Studio 3’s as well. Now one of the main differentiating factors between the Solo’s and Studio’s have been their ear pads. The Solo’s are on ear headphones which for a lot of people could be a deal breaker. Where as the Studio’s are technically over ear headphones. But the Studio 3’s ear pads are very cramped when compared to either the Sony 1000XM4’s, Bose NC 700’s, or AirPods Max. So they still basically fit like a pair of on ear headphones. So definitely something that I would like to see from the Beats Studio Pro’s are more spacious ear pads.
But now I want to talk about the carrying cases here. Now apple has been progressively cheaping out on their carrying cases. Now the studio 3’s come included with this hard case but since these headphones don’t fold flat it is rather bulky when compared to these other cases that you get with Sony 1000XM4’s, Bose NC 700’s, or Sennheiser PXC 550 II’s. Now when compared to these other cases this case does feel rather cheap. Now yeah it has a soft touch feel to it but thats really the only nice thing to say about it. But when it comes to the Studio Pro’s I don’t know what kind of case to expect. Now we could get a hardshell case, or we can get a soft case like you do with the Solo Pro’s or maybe we’ll get some kind of smart bra like we do with the AirPods Max.
Now when it comes to tech specs I think its a safe bet that the Studio Pro’s would charge via a lighting port just like the Solo Pro’s and AirPods Max. Now I do think the Studio 3’s should have used a lighting port to charge from the get go… but instead they charge via a Micro USB port which is an incovinance now… where as the majority of ANC headphones these days now charge via USB C port.
Now when it comes to bluetooth connectivity the Beats Studio 3’s are using Apple’s W1 chip which first debuted with the Original AirPods. Now the W1 chip in the Beats Studio 3’s makes pairing these headphones up very easy to your phone and you can still easily hot swap between any of your apple devices associated with your iCloud account. Just like with the H1 chip found in the Beats Solo Pro, second generation AirPods, AirPods Pro, and AirPods Max.
But the main difference between the older W1 chip and the newer H1 chip is that the H1 chip allows for Hey Siri support. So you can just be like Hey Siri call so and so or send so and so a text… and boom it done all with just your voice. Where as with the Beats Studio 3’s you can’t activate Siri with just your voice youre going to have to press and hold on touch pad like a barbarian.
Now another barbarian thing about the Studio 3’s is that they still have an audio jack… where as apple’s newer headphones have done away with them. Now obviously im joking… I don’t want the audio jack to go away just yet cause there are certain situation’s where you still need to use a wired connection. Now you can still use a wired connection on with both the Beats Solo Pro and AirPods Max… but you are going to have to get apple’s lighting to audio jack cable which is sold separately for $35.
Now im not upset at the fact that Apple’s newer headphones don’t have an audio jack, I just don’t like that their audio cable is sold separately. Cuase if you’re a content creator working on a project in Final Cut Pro… you’re still going to want to use a wired connection. Cause even though latency on Apple’s headphones is very low… there is still like a quarter second delay.
Now when it comes to sound… I would expect it to be better on the Beats Studio Pro. Now I wouldn’t expect the Studio Pro to sound as good as the AirPods Max… but I would expect to to sound very similar to the Solo Pro’s which do sound better than the Studio 3’s. Now the Studio 3’s have your classic beats sound signature which has hard hitting bass so they are going to rattle your head a good amount… but they also have very strong vocals. So the vocals on these headphones can get all up in your face. So all in all these are a pair of narrow sounding headphones cuase the instrumentals on these headphones can get easily overpowered either by their bass or vocals. Where as with the Beats Solo Pro… their bass doesn’t hit as hard… but it does resonate a good amount. Their vocals also are aren’t all up in your face so the instrumentals do have room to shine here. So over all the Solo pro’s do sound more balanced than the Studio 3’s and they also sound a little more open. But like I mentioned earlier I would not expect the Studio Pro’s to sound as good as the AirPods Max. Now like I’ve mentioned in past videos I like how these headphones sound. They sound much more open than the Solo Pro’s and they have dynamic bass that allows you to physically feel your music, but it doesn’t get over powering like the Studio 3’s. My only complaint about the AirPods Max is that their treble is just a little too high. But over all I would expect the Beats Studio Pro to sound like the Solo Pro’s but they could have a little more physicality to their bass to satiate people who really like bass in their music.
But now we’ve got to talk about the active noise cancelation on the studio 3’s… this is something that really needs work. Plainly said the active noise cancelation on the Studio 3’s is a joke in 2020. A pair of entry level 2020 ANC headphones like either the Sony WH-CH710N’s or Skullcandy Hesh ANC easily out perform the Beats Studio 3’s. And I would expect the Beats Studio Pro’s to have decent active noise cancelation cuase the solo pro’s have so so active noise cancelation and the ANC on the AirPods Max is rather impressive cuase they brutally go after constant low frequency sounds. But so that you can see for yourself we’re going to jump into and ANC test.
So like you may have just seen… the Beats Studio 3’s barely block out any noise. Where as the AirPods Max just utterly block out those constant low frequency sounds. And like I mentioned in their full review the AirPods max block out more noise than both the Sony 1000XM4’s and Bose NC 700’s… but their draw back is their cabin pressure. Now you’re not going to feel too much cabin if you’re playing music with these headphones but you’ll might feel like you gotta pop your ears… but you are going to notice that cabin pressure if you’re watching a movie or video on these headphones and you’re really going to feel that cabin pressure if you’re not playing anything. Now the Beats Solo pro also have a noticeable amount of cabin pressure… but over all I do think that if we get the Beats Studio Pro their ANC will split the difference between the Solo pro and AirPods Max. They could block out an impressive amount of noise but just not block out as much noise as the Bose and Sony’s purely cause apple will might want to keep the AirPods Max with the Superior Active Noise cancelation.
But something the Beats Studio 3 is completely lacking is a transparency mode. Now a transparency mode is a very standard feature these days and both the AirPods Max and beats Solo Pro have a good transparency mode that sounds very natural and bearly picks up any wind noise when walking out doors. Now a transparency Mode is very useful either so that you can stay aware of your surroundings when walking around the city and its also very useful for when you’re working with your headphones on at home and you still want to be aware either for when someone is knocking on the door or if someone calls your name. So if we do get a Beats Studio pro then a transparency mode is a given.
But finally the last thing the Beats Studio 3’s really need improving is their microphone. Now the microphone on the Beats Studio 3’s isn’t the worst and could get the job done for like a quick conversation…
But the microphone on the Beats Studio 3’s doesn’t sound as clear as the microphone on the Beats Solo pro
But the AirPods Max does have the superior microphone here. My voice just doesn’t sound super clear…
This microphone also does a very impressive job of blocking out constant low frequency sounds cuase right now we’re running the road noise simulation. And if we were to switch over to my lapel microphone you’re going to clearly hear all of this road noise. But if we were to switch back over to the AirPods max it is severely reduced but my more importantly my voice is front and center.
So with all that being said this isn’t really a review or comparison. I’m just trying to highlight the current state of the Beats Studio 3’s in 2021 and Im just sharing my thoughts of what we could see from the Beats Studio Pro’s which I still believe are on the way. Given that the AirPods Max retail for $550 and the Beats Solo Pro retail for $300 I think apple will place a product that address the price gap between the AirPods max and Beats Solo pro. Now with that being said, even though the AirPods max really do deliver when it comes to sound and active noise cancelation… to me these headphones just have a lot of quirks to them that just make it hard to justify dropping $550 on them. Then there are the Beats Solo pro which personally I would not recommend that you pick them up at their $300 retail price… and even when they’re on sale at $230 they’re still a tough sell. At that price you can go with the Sony XB900N’s, Sennheiser PXC 550 II’s, or Surface Headphones 2 and get way more bang for your buck. And finally there are the beats Studio 3. Under no circumstances would I recommend that you pick these headphones up for $350 which is what they are currently going for on Apple’s site… and even if these things were on sale for less than $200… you’re still better off going with anything else.